"On Nation and Race" (from Mein Kampf) is a persuasive argument fueled by powerful emotion. The chapter inspired a newfound nationalism within Germany during a time of great depression and global humiliation. Hitler was not yet the supreme chancellor of Germany, but if one were to look carefully at his ideas within this essay, one would find the foreboding seeds of his Final Solution. Unfortunately, at that time, most Germans were vulnerable to irrational logic and faulty rhetoric because of the grim outlook of their own living standards. Thus, most of Hitler's false claims went unnoticed and people accepted his conclusions as truth. When emotion is removed, logic rises to the surface and now, as we look back at Hitler's scientific, religious, and historical claims, we can demise that very little of Hitler's arguments are based in truth…which makes the destruction of over six million lives that much more devastating to understand.
The following lines from the chapter hold special falsehoods worth noting:
1. Claim: [Men] pass blindly by one of the most patent principles of Nature's rule: the inner segregation of the species of all living beings on this earth. Truth: Yes, there are different species of plants and animals; however, there is only one kind of human. Humans do not break down into different levels of subhumans. Humans may differ in outward appearance but that is largely related to diet and environment. Every human has the same amount of bones, water, blood, and size of brain. All humans can reproduce together.
2. Claim: Any crossing of two beings not at exactly the same level produces a medium between the level of the two parents. This means: the offspring will probably stand higher than the racially lower parent, but not as high as the higher one. Truth: Humans have yet to accurately predict the potential of a child given that environmental, nurturing, and genetic factors all contribute to the development of a human. There are many cases throughout history and today that disprove this claim. Tiger Woods is more talented than his father or mother was in golf. Mark Zuckerburg is more successful and wealthier than his parents. Secondly, the term racially lower is flawed in logic. There is no racially lower or higher human.
3. Claim: The Germanic inhabitant of the American continent, who has remained racially pure and unmixed, rose to be master of the continent; he will remain the master as long as he does not fall a victim to defilement of the blood. Truth: The Germain inhabitants that Hitler refers to are the descendants of a number of different cultures who, over time, settled in the Eastern region of what is now considered Europe. Also, Germans were not masters of North America. Historically speaking, the English and Spanish held the edge on exploration, government development, and land ownership, not Germany.
4.Claim: The result of all racial crossing is therefore in brief always the following:
Lowering of the level of the higher race;
Physical and intellectual regression and hence the beginning of a slowly but surely progressing sickness.
Truth: In reality, diversity is key to survival. Mutated genes carry terrible birth defects and while these genes are typically recessive, they will present themselves more frequently in populations that breed very closely within the family. This was a major problem within royal families throughout history. Close knit religious colonies are also inviting health risks.
Tay-Sachs, Cystic Fibrosis, Dwarfism, Sickle Cell Anemia, hemophilia, Huntington's Disease, Fragile X, Turner Syndrome
How do Autosomal Recessive Diseases Pass Along?
If you are born to parents who both carry an autosomal recessive change (mutation), you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting the malfunctioning genes from both parents and developing the disease. You have a 50% (1 in 2) chance of inheriting one abnormal gene. This would make you a carrier.
In other words, if four children are born to a couple who both carry the gene (but do not have signs of disease), the statistical expectation is as follows:
One child is born with two normal genes (normal)
Two children are born with one normal and one abnormal gene (carriers, without disease)
One child is born with two abnormal genes (at risk for the disease)
5. Claim: Everything we admire on this earth today-science and art, technology and inventions-is only the creative product of a few peoples and originally perhaps of one race. Truth: Many different cultures have contributed to the progress of the human race. Art, math, food, war, weapons, farming, architecture, medicine, athletic skills have developed from all across the globe. Hitler cannot claim that one group of people, even Germans, are to be heralded as the only men of creative ability.
6. Claim: All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning. Truth: There is no such thing as blood poisoning or racially lower people (we've already discussed that above), however, if we were to examine the great cultures of history, we would quickly remember that the Roman Empire expanded over one million square miles and included many different races of people for over 500 years. There are many theories as to why Rome lost its power, some argue over reliance on slave labor, others take into account the political instability and overspending of Rome's government, and some cite the invasion of Barbarian tribes from the North and East. None, however, blame 'blood poisoning' or poorly controlled reproduction within families.
7.Claim: Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live. Truth: Hitler is right when he suggests that the Jewish groups in Germany at that time did not support engaging in another war. The Jewish communities stood very aligned with one another about their fear of losing what little they did have and that the direction the new government should head towards is one of inner development and reconstruction. The Jews in Germany very much wanted to rebuild their communities and families after a devastating war but they did not believe that the loss of more life was going to help their situation.
"On Nation and Race" (from Mein Kampf) is a persuasive argument fueled by powerful emotion. The chapter inspired a newfound nationalism within Germany during a time of great depression and global humiliation. Hitler was not yet the supreme chancellor of Germany, but if one were to look carefully at his ideas within this essay, one would find the foreboding seeds of his Final Solution. Unfortunately, at that time, most Germans were vulnerable to irrational logic and faulty rhetoric because of the grim outlook of their own living standards. Thus, most of Hitler's false claims went unnoticed and people accepted his conclusions as truth. When emotion is removed, logic rises to the surface and now, as we look back at Hitler's scientific, religious, and historical claims, we can demise that very little of Hitler's arguments are based in truth…which makes the destruction of over six million lives that much more devastating to understand.
The following lines from the chapter hold special falsehoods worth noting:
1. Claim: [Men] pass blindly by one of the most patent principles of Nature's rule: the inner segregation of the species of all living beings on this earth.
Truth: Yes, there are different species of plants and animals; however, there is only one kind of human. Humans do not break down into different levels of subhumans. Humans may differ in outward appearance but that is largely related to diet and environment. Every human has the same amount of bones, water, blood, and size of brain. All humans can reproduce together.
2. Claim: Any crossing of two beings not at exactly the same level produces a medium between the level of the two parents. This means: the offspring will probably stand higher than the racially lower parent, but not as high as the higher one.
Truth: Humans have yet to accurately predict the potential of a child given that environmental, nurturing, and genetic factors all contribute to the development of a human. There are many cases throughout history and today that disprove this claim. Tiger Woods is more talented than his father or mother was in golf. Mark Zuckerburg is more successful and wealthier than his parents. Secondly, the term racially lower is flawed in logic. There is no racially lower or higher human.
3. Claim: The Germanic inhabitant of the American continent, who has remained racially pure and unmixed, rose to be master of the continent; he will remain the master as long as he does not fall a victim to defilement of the blood.
Truth: The Germain inhabitants that Hitler refers to are the descendants of a number of different cultures who, over time, settled in the Eastern region of what is now considered Europe. Also, Germans were not masters of North America. Historically speaking, the English and Spanish held the edge on exploration, government development, and land ownership, not Germany.
4.Claim: The result of all racial crossing is therefore in brief always the following:
Truth: In reality, diversity is key to survival. Mutated genes carry terrible birth defects and while these genes are typically recessive, they will present themselves more frequently in populations that breed very closely within the family. This was a major problem within royal families throughout history. Close knit religious colonies are also inviting health risks.
Tay-Sachs, Cystic Fibrosis, Dwarfism, Sickle Cell Anemia, hemophilia, Huntington's Disease, Fragile X, Turner Syndrome
How do Autosomal Recessive Diseases Pass Along?
If you are born to parents who both carry an autosomal recessive change (mutation), you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting the malfunctioning genes from both parents and developing the disease. You have a 50% (1 in 2) chance of inheriting one abnormal gene. This would make you a carrier.
In other words, if four children are born to a couple who both carry the gene (but do not have signs of disease), the statistical expectation is as follows:
5. Claim: Everything we admire on this earth today-science and art, technology and inventions-is only the creative product of a few peoples and originally perhaps of one race.
Truth: Many different cultures have contributed to the progress of the human race. Art, math, food, war, weapons, farming, architecture, medicine, athletic skills have developed from all across the globe. Hitler cannot claim that one group of people, even Germans, are to be heralded as the only men of creative ability.
6. Claim: All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning.
Truth: There is no such thing as blood poisoning or racially lower people (we've already discussed that above), however, if we were to examine the great cultures of history, we would quickly remember that the Roman Empire expanded over one million square miles and included many different races of people for over 500 years. There are many theories as to why Rome lost its power, some argue over reliance on slave labor, others take into account the political instability and overspending of Rome's government, and some cite the invasion of Barbarian tribes from the North and East. None, however, blame 'blood poisoning' or poorly controlled reproduction within families.
7.Claim: Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.
Truth: Hitler is right when he suggests that the Jewish groups in Germany at that time did not support engaging in another war. The Jewish communities stood very aligned with one another about their fear of losing what little they did have and that the direction the new government should head towards is one of inner development and reconstruction. The Jews in Germany very much wanted to rebuild their communities and families after a devastating war but they did not believe that the loss of more life was going to help their situation.